SEMA News

Every business involved in the automotive specialty-equipment market has at least one thing in common: They all want to develop the most efficient way to provide customers with top-quality parts, assemblies or services. Finding the right tool for the right job can go a long way toward fulfilling that goal.

This compilation of restoration products that were introduced at the 2010 SEMA Show runs the gamut from traditional numbers-matching reproductions to modernization components for handling and power. We’ve also interspersed comments from the owners and executives of some of the industry’s leading restoration specialists. Both say a lot about how the marketplace has changed.

Exhibitors can promote their SEMA Show debut by sending press release materials into SEMA's publication department.

How effective are your advertising and media campaigns? More important, how are you measuring your return on investment (ROI)?

To learn what it takes to market product for use by American armed services, we talked to some specialty-equipment manufacturers that have branched out from traditional commercial sales to work with military suppliers. Among those willing to share their experiences were FOX Racing Shox, ICON Vehicle Dynamics, Wilwood Engineering, MasterCraft Safety, Roush Yates Performance Products and Rhino Linings.

Internet speaker and business consultant Joe Dysart has outlined some of the key elements that should be in place, based on insights from top experts in the medium, when developing a social media policy for your company and its employees.

Bill Stroppe’s involvement with racing runs so deep that it would probably be easier to list the types of racing he didn’t participate in than those he did. On-road, off-road, even in the water, the vehicles that Stroppe and his crew built were fast, competitive and usually groundbreaking in their design and execution.

With the rollout of Facebook’s new makeover this spring now a fait accompli, many web marketers rejoice that some of the service’s new features will make it much easier for them to do business on the social network. This is true both from a creative standpoint and from a business analytics perspective.

An unusually popular event, the Motorsports Parts Manufacturers Council (MPMC) Media Trade Conference (MTC), brings together writers and editors from all over the world with racing and high-performance parts manufacturers.

Customer service has become a key difference-maker in an interconnected world. The growth of social media means a single customer can broadcast what he or she thinks of your company, good or bad. And others can give that message an exponential pop—making or breaking your company’s image. Where customers have multiple options for parts and service, business leaders agree that building customer loyalty based on service is imperative.